I needed a booster after that, and I got it when I read Don Banks' latest article on Sports Illustrated. It talks about the optimism in Detroit and Cleveland (the two teams will meet on Friday), led by two young quarterbacks looking to revive franchises.
Lauvao is expected to play the first half with the starters, and it will be important for him to contain Suh as best as he can so Colt McCoy doesn't end up on his back, or worse, injured. Right now, all McCoy can do is have faith playing with the guys he has.
Cleveland Browns left tackle and all-around beast Joe Thomas was on The Really Big Show this morning on 850 WKNR. A transcript of the interview has been posted here; I've included some highlights about quarterback Colt McCoy after the jump.
We have had two and a half weeks of action since my previous training camp roster projection. Since then, training camp has started and I think we all have a better grasp at which players are serious contenders to make the final roster. I didn't post a practice squad last time, but I'll indicate a few hopefuls this time around.
If you don't want to hear about injuries, then don't read today's training camp report. Three of Cleveland's key players left the field early, meaning the team could be a bit short-handed when they face the Detroit Lions on Friday.
The Cleveland Browns are quickly approaching their second preseason game, and guess which position seems to have the most issues when it comes to depth? It isn't the defensive line, it's not at wide receiver, and I'd even go as far as saying it doesn't include the linebackers. The position with the biggest depth problems appears to be at safety.
“I don’t know,” Shanahan said following Tuesday morning’s practice. “If you see him, let me know because I was wondering where he was at, too. I don’t know where he was at. Missing in action.”
Camp was closed to the public again this morning, but the media went wild talking about appearances made by former Ohio State Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, former Browns defensive coordinator Dave Adolph, and members of the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office.
The Browns currently have the 7th highest amount of salary cap space at $23.95 million. What has changed since the last time the salary cap figures were released? Well, the lockout ended, which allowed the team to sign their draft picks (such as Phil Taylor).
Each year, PredictionMachine.com plays the 2011 NFL Season 50,000 times before it is actually played (exactly how they do that is beyond me, but whatever). I remember seeing these in the past, and it's always fun to see what they come up with. How did the Cleveland Browns fare in their results?
Hardesty Returns to Action: All eyes were on running back Montario Hardesty, who was doing something besides light jogs or standing around: he was taking part in the action. It seemed like a big step forward for Hardesty, who had been held out of contact drills for the past two weeks.
We are just one game in to the preseason, but the results for Colt McCoy and the West Coast Offense were positive. We'll see if things can go this smooth the rest of the preseason. For now, it might be time to start paying more attention to the 4-3 defense and making sure our front four get some positive work in.
(On if McCoy made all the reads he had to make)- "I thought so. The first play sticks out. Just like your first play he pushed up in the pocket and he came to the sideline and he tried to flip it over to Owen (Marecic). My first response was, ‘Oh geez, that’s backwards.’
Wide receiver Carlton Mitchell had surgery on his finger and will be out for a couple of weeks. Head coach Pat Shurmur was asked if placing Mitchell on the injured reserve would be an option. "I think that is way too early to know," said Shurmur. "The injuries we are talking about with them, although they are surgeries, we anticipate them coming quickly."
How did Colt McCoy's first game in the West Coast Offense turn out? Not bad...not bad at all. The Cleveland Browns defeated the Green Bay Packers by a score of 27-17 in their first preseason game, but the thing everyone will take away from this game is the performance of the first-team offense under McCoy.
The Packers are now the defending Super Bowl Champions. The Browns replaced Eric Mangini with Pat Shurmur at head coach, and the team is now running a new offensive system and a new defensive system.
One of my reasons for tuning into the FOX game was that I wanted a sneak peak at how two of the league's major rule changes -- the replay review of some scoring plays and the change in the distance of kickoffs -- would turn out.
The Cleveland Browns have already been through training camp for a couple of weeks not, but the team's position battles could really start heating up once you see what certain players can do on gameday when full-blown contact is allowed. Here are the top five position battles to watch out for, ranked in order of prominence.
The Cleveland Browns had their final practice Thursday morning before their game against the Packers. Head coach Pat Shurmur decided to have the team go without pads, probably hoping to prevent any minor injuries that would hold players out of the camp.
Despite not playing, running back Montario Hardesty was listed second on the depth chart. That should change, especially when you see a player like tight end Jordan Cameron fourth on the depth chart after missing some time due to injury.
Bring Out the Boot: One of the top stories from today's training camp reports involved the team's No. 1 receiver, Mohamed Massaquoi. He still did not participate in practice, but the cast was removed from his right foot and replaced with a walking boot instead.
It's probably a good thing for linebacker Kaluka Maiava to get some reps with the first-team defense before Saturday's game. With Chris Gocong out with a neck stinger (not serious), Maiava was playing in his place. Maiava would start on Saturday is Gocong is unavailable.
While wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi is expected to miss the first preseason game while he recovers from what we now know to be a small chip fracture in his left foot, team president Mike Holmgren believes that Massaquoi will be participating in training camp with the rest of the team soon.
Based on what I've seen from Brandon Jackson so far, I've drawn this conclusion: Montario Hardesty should probably be the third running back to start off the season. Jackson has been one of the team's best receivers in camp.
Fans should be reminded of a major rule change that will probably be apparent even in the preseason games. John Bena from our Denver Broncos affiliate attended their local camp where the officials made it more clear how the process of reviewing every scoring play will go.
The Browns are a slow football team. Cleveland has decent size but definitely not enough blazers and game-changing athletes. I thought the Browns would be more aggressive in free agency to close the talent gap with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.
